Second SEPTA Contract Moves Forward

I am well into my second contract with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) in Philadelphia. The program calls for a periodic one-day grammar and writing class for up to 18 participants, ranging from administrative support to technical and managerial staff.

While I actually enjoy the reading time afforded by the pleasant Amtrak train ride from Central New Jersey to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, the best part of this experience is working with SEPTA staff. They seem hungry for the training, eager to share their ideas, and determined to improve their writing skills. What else can a writing consultant ask for?

Resolved—Really?

I did not read much about New Year’s resolutions as we approached 2009. That’s probably because the reporter who resolved to write an article about New Year’s resolutions could not follow through on his resolution! The truth is, by the time I posted this note, 6:00 p.m. on January 1, most of us have already broken our resolutions. What was it this time? To stop smoking? No more cold cuts? Exercise every day? Walking the dog an extra block regardless of the weather? Sure.

I raise this issue not to depress you about your failures but to suggest how you can redeem yourself for any broken resolution: Resolve to write—every day.

It’s easier than you’d think. I’m not asking you to write a novel. Not even a letter or e-mail to Mom. All I’m recommending is a “writing watch,” so to speak. Start to think about writing whenever you’re writing. If you’re the sort who thinks of yourself as the world’s worst writer, think again. When you’re writing a note to your significant other or to your child’s teacher or to the UPS delivery person and they follow through on your message, you have written clearly enough. What’s happened here? Sufficient understanding of the context? A thorough attention to detail? On the other hand, when you jot a note to yourself and return to it three days later only to wonder what you had meant when you wrote it, you have dropped the ball. So what’s happening now? Failure to attend to what was most important to remember at the point of composition? Insufficient detail? The same thought has to go into those school papers, business reports, and team presentation you write.

If you can’t imagine anyone writing slower than you, think again. Count words, for everything you write. You’d be amazed at how much those 20-word reminders, 40-word blurbs, 80-word messages, and 160-word e-mail announcements accumulate in sheer word volume. You’re probably writing thousands of words a week, tens of thousands a month, and hundreds of thousands a year—enough to create novels! Keep going. You’re already faster than you think and getting faster the more you work at it.

Resolved: to write every day and to think like a producer of words. Without even resolving to become a better writer, you will become one.

Closing Year 4 with a Guided Tour of WORDS ON THE LINE

Here is my last Words on the Line post of 2008, post number 240, the end of the fourth year of running this blog on effective writing at work, school, and home. Many pearls of wisdom from master writers, insightful students, and my research are buried among the 59,000 words scattered throughout this site. How can you unearth some of them? Here are three ways:

1. Search a topic in the upper-left search box. For instance, if you type in pronouns or style, you’ll get plenty to read.
2. Browse the general topics under Labels in the right column. The topics cover the most common issues on interest to business, technical, and academic writers.
3. Write to me! If you don’t find an answer to your writing question here, I’ll be glad to respond to your questions.

Here’s to the beginning of Year 5 of this blog and to your writing success!

To purchase your copy of The Art of On-the-Job Writing by Philip Vassallo, click here: https://www.firstbooks.com/product_info.php?cPath=14&products_id=144

To purchase your copy of The Art of E-Mail Writing by Philip Vassallo, click here: https://www.firstbooks.com/product_info.php/cPath/53/products_id/196

New Book in the Works

My third book on writing, on the topic of writing fast at work, is due for publication by AMACOM Books, a leading publisher of business management, communication, and leadership titles. Tentatively titled In a Heartbeat: Writing Fast at Work, the book is based on How to Write Fast When It’s Due Yesterday, a one-day course I designed for the American Management Association, the parent organization of AMACOM.

The book will include tips on getting started quickly, overcoming writer’s block, generating ideas, rewriting proficiently, planning for emergency writing situations, and many other issues related to writing productivity. It should appear on shelves by mid-2009.

To purchase your copy of The Art of On-the-Job Writing by Philip Vassallo, click here: https://www.firstbooks.com/product_info.php?cPath=14&products_id=144

To purchase your copy of The Art of E-Mail Writing by Philip Vassallo, click here: https://www.firstbooks.com/product_info.php/cPath/53/products_id/196

The "Old-is-New" for Inspired Writing

A new writing instructor asked me for advice on what she could do to motivate her students to write engaging prose. Now there’s a simple question that gets an endless answer! Numerous techniques are available, so when I teach rhetorical writing I use specific prompts based on student interest, aptitude, and experience. I especially like using the old-is-new. It’s a device that many successful creative writers play, unconsciously or not, when spinning amazing tales that capture their readers’ hearts and imaginations.

When playing the old-is-new, writers look for a fresh detail about someone, someplace, or something familiar to them. Look at a photograph that has hung on a wall in your house for years, searching for a feature you haven’t noticed before. Maybe you never paid attention to what the person in the picture is wearing, or the budding oak tree, white picket fence, or sailboat in the background. Maybe you can recall an event from local or world history that was occurring around that time to make the picture more significant. When I recently saw a picture of myself as a ten-year-old boy in the peaceful country of Malta, I was struck by how at that very moment in history race riots were occurring throughout the United States. Only a month after that moment, Malta officially gained its independence from Great Britain after years of nonviolent negotiations. What made one people protest violently and another protest peacefully? Were the American protestors always violent and the Maltese protestors always peaceful? What were the similarities and differences between the two groups as well as the historical and political situations in which they found themselves? There’s something of a story in that.

The old-is-new could also lead the writers in an entirely different direction. Perhaps they can try doing something for the first time which has been accessible to them for as long as they can remember. Examples for me would include going to a professional football game, taking a tango lesson at the dance studio down the block, or walking through Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Maybe writers looking for new ideas can meet with someone whom they know by name but have never had personal company with. In my case, those folks would be the neighbors three doors down who for more than ten years have always exchanged hellos with me but nothing else. Or I could strike a conversation with the man in the newspaper kiosk on the corner of 48th Street and Broadway. Again, the goal is to uncover items of interest that you previously did not know, things that prove a common bond with, or a deep divergence from, your subject.

There are countless other examples of old-is-new. If it inspires writing by finding connections between yourself and the world in which you interact, or even between two contrasting facets of yourself, like your placid and aggressive sides, you’ll be on to something special as you write your essay.

“How to Write Fast” Webcast Now Online

My webcast, How to Write Fast When It’s Due Yesterday, is now available for viewing free of charge at the American Management Association’s (AMA) website (www.amanet.org/editorial/webcast/2008/how-to-write-fast.htm). It discusses problems that prevent writing efficiency and provides tips on making writing less painful and more proactive.

This is my second webcast at AMA. The first, How to Write a Darn Good E-mail, can be seen here: www.amanet.org/editorial/webcast/2006/darn-good-email.htm.

Both of these hour-long programs have been viewed by thousands of corporate employees across the country. They're definitely worth a peek.

New ESL Course Designed for AMA

Be on the lookout for the American Management Association’s (AMA) new course, Business Writing for the Nonnative English Speaker. I designed this three-day program for AMA, an international training organization, relying on my years of experience in delivering my own English-as-a-Second-Language instruction for engineering, scientific, pharmaceutical, telecommunications, and financial firms. The course provides model documents, a broad range of writing topics, plenty of intensive writing practice opportunities, and ample tome to receive individual feedback. I will lead the first two sessions, in San Francisco, January 12-14, and New York, February 2-4. You may register for this course directly at the AMA website. Here’s the link: www.amanet.org/seminars/seminar.cfm?baseSemNo=2266.